The 421 Bus
by emilia valentine
Summary: Finn and Rachel meet on the 421 bus. A/U, Finchel and Quick!


She meets him on a bus.

It's her first day in the big apple, and she's on her way to her first New York audition. It's for the role of Elpheba on Broadway, and she's so nervous that she's convinced she needs a paper bag.

Whenever they reach a red light, or they stop to let more people on, her head shoots up, glaring at whoever or whatever has made it even vaguely possible for her to be late.

But then she looks up and she meets his eyes.

They're dark brown, a mixture of whisky and autumn leaves, and framed by black lashes. He smiles- a strange, half, crooked smile that all the same makes her breathing speed up even more.

"Hey," he says, "Is this seat taken?"

Since she is actually gasping for breath at this point, she just nods, and he plops his huge form next to her, his legs alone taking up most of the little foot room.

"Sorry. About me taking up so much room I mean."

His voice is rough and smooth at the same time. "It's fine."Huzzah! She feels like shouting, a sentence! Miraculous!

They sit in a amicable silence for the rest of the time she's on the bus. When it's time for her to get up, he stands up politely and offers her another sweet smile.

"Goodbye, miss."

"Bye."

It's not till later, when she's come home from the audition, (she didn't get the part, but that's ok, because they offered her a minor speaking part and after all it WAS her first ever audition) that she sees a scrap of paper in her bag. It reads;

Finn- the guy off the 421 bus. 078362947

His handwriting is exactly like him somehow- large and swoopy. She smiles.

He doesn't know what made him do it. Leave his number in her bag, he means. He's not Puck, after all, who frequently writes his number in sharpie on the back of girls hands and legs and anything else that is good enough for pen to write on. He doesn't even know her name. But something about her, it made him want to know her better.

He doesn't think she'll actually call, so when, about two days after the bus journey, the sound of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' comes blaring out of his pocket and he picks up the phone to hear a sweet, perfectly pitched voice say;

"Hello?"

He nearly faints. "Uh, hi. Who's calling please?"

"It's Rachel," she says hesitantly. "Rachel Berry. The girl from the 421 bus?"

"Oh, of course. Hi!"

"Hi."

He suddenly feels the oddest urge to explain himself to her.

"I don't normally leave my number for people on buses. I'm not like a creepy stalker, or anything, but I really wanted to get to know you better, because you have really nice eyes and stuff…"

He realises that blurting stuff out isn't making it any better, so he shuts up. He fully expects to hear the cut off sound, but instead hears a giggle.

"Um, thanks."

"Do you want to meet for a coffee sometime?" His words come out in a breathless rush."That would be nice. Thanks."

She makes Quinn come with her for the coffee date. It's hard to convince her, but Quinn has been her best friend since middle school and she even calls Finn and gets him to bring a friend for her.

She doesn't know much about him, but Finn says his name is Puck.

On the day of their date, she takes the 421 bus again. Quinn sits next to her on the backseat, texting her boss about a missing folder, or something. When she sees him get on the bus again, her heart nearly beats its way out of her chest.

He offers her a shy smile, before coming and sitting next to her, pointing his built, mohawked friend to the seat next to Quinn, to whom he offers a quick wave.

"Funny," he whispers in her ear as Puck and Quinn begin to flirt animatedly "I'm kinda starting to think that the 421 bus is our place."She blushes and smiles up at him.

They talk for the rest of the day. After coffee, they go for a stroll round central park, and then on to some little Italian she knows, leaving Quinn and Puck (or Quick, as she and Finn have christened them) to make out on a bench somewhere.

She feels like she's known him all her life.

As far as first dates go, Finn's fairly convinced that he never had and never will have a better one. She's just so…perfect. The way her dark brown hair lies on her shoulders, the emotions that can pass through her deep brown eyes in the course of a second, her funny, passionate way of talking about things.

He lets Puck do most of the talking on the 421 bus home, after Rachel and Quinn have gotten off. Somewhere in his consciousness, he can hear Puck going on about 'hot' and 'tomorrow' and 'her pants', but he tunes out, returning to a world when it's just Rachel Berry and him.

It's not till their third date that they actually kiss. They've just been to a show, he thinks it was Funny Girl, and she's crying a little, and talking about how that show is a seminal, inspiring, masterpiece of a musical, and they walk towards the 421 bus station, which is right next to the Hudson River. "Oh Finn, it was so nice of you to put up with me, it's just, Barbra can put on such classic shows…"

He's looking at her, and she looks so gorgeous that he simply has to kiss her.

He certainly does NOT regret it. He smiles the whole time he's on the 421 bus home.

On their 124th date (not that she's been counting) he asks her to come down to his childhood home with him. They're on the 421 bus, but she can't help but reward him with a good, long kiss.

It's October, and they've been dating since early February, and when she learns that she's going to meet his parents, she immediately starts packing. As a native of Oregon, she's never even driven through Lima, Ohio, but she cannot wait to acquaint herself with his childhood home.

He holds her hand on the flight down, because she's never been a good flier, and the four hour plane ride is a bit too bumpy for her tastes. She decides that if flying involves him holding her hand for that long, it isn't quite so bad.

She's not quite prepared for Ohio, but she soon grows to love it. She loves Finn's mom and step dad, and his stepbrother is like her kindred spirit, but gay, a boy and obsessed with fashion (she will stick with her knee-highs, thank you very much), and as for his little sister- well, it's instant love (what is it about this family, she wonders later).

She returns the favour a month later, and her daddies adore Finn nearly as much as she does (impossible, but still), and he likes Oregon.

It's on their 421st date, while on the beach in her hometown of Sea Edge, that he proposes. A 421 bus is driving by at the time.

She says yes.

As they've decided that the 421 is obviously their place, Rachel decides it's only fitting to travel to her wedding in it. She's wearing a gorgeous Vera Wang number (courtesy of one Kurt Hummel-Anderson), and is the happiest she's ever been. She sees Finn's eyes light up when she walks down the aisle and her stomach gives the most delightful little flip. Her fathers are walking her down towards the alter, and all her closest friends are around her and Quinn is behind her (she's the MOH, and Puck is the best man she knows Quinn is planning on seducing later), but all she can focus on is the 6"3" giant with the adorable quiff.

He nearly faints as she enters. She looks like an angel, a brunette, singing (she's playing Fanny Price in Funny Girl at the moment), tiny angel. And the best bit of all? She's all his. His face nearly splits he grins so hard. She smiles back, a shy, quiet smile and he's the happiest man alive or dead. Ever.

His mind skips back to their first meeting on the 421 bus. He owes that bus a thank you card.

She tells him she's pregnant on the 421 bus. She knows it isn't ideal, but hey, he's always either on duty at the fire station, or she's at a show. So she blurts it out on the backseat. For a second, his jaw just drops and no words come out of his mouth. She's really nervous that she's scared him or that he doesn't want the baby (it wasn't exactly planned). But then he smiles, the biggest smile ever, and swoops her up into his arms and kisses her with all the passion he has right there, in front of all the New Yorkers.

"Rach…that's amazing. You're amazing. I love you so, so, so much."

"I love you to," she replies, because hey, she does, and they're married, and everything is just perfect.

It hasn't always been, because the road to love (no pun intended) isn't easy, and it never will be. There are arguments about both of them working too much, about the male lead in her new musical, about the receptionist at the station. But in the end, they love each other, and they're bringing new life into the world. And that's all that matters.

Her water breaks just as the 421 bus pulls into it's stop beside Central Park. She's been experiencing mild discomfort all day, but didn't think it was anything major. The puddle around her feet says otherwise. She yells,

"STOP THE BUS!" and tells the bus driver of her situation. He helps her off and calls her a cab, not caring about the yelling passengers back on board. Luckily, Puck is driving the taxi that picks her up (he has to save money now that Quinn's pregnant as well) and he drives her to the hospital.

Twenty minutes later, Finn bursts in, looking anxious and worried and happy all at once. She's singing to herself and he smiles, because it's just so Rachel.

Three hours later, a tiny baby lies between them, barely ten minutes old. Liam Christopher Hudson is a part of them both- and he's special.

It's a while till they next get on the bus. They moved out to Oregon for six months after the baby was born, so Rachel could take a break, and then she got pregnant again, so they stayed there for another two years.

But when they come back (Rachel is set to perform in the revival of Rent), all four of them take the 421 bus to the Hudson river and stroll down the bank. On the bus home, Finn and Rachel tell Liam and little baby Delilah all about where they met.

But when the children are both asleep, they share a smile.

Because, children or no, the 421 bus is their place.

That's why, when the bus gets retired, they buy it. And the 421 bus is all theirs- just like it always was.

Finn and Rachel- product of the 421 bus.


End file.
